


Oh, My Ancient Mars

by AstriferousSprite



Series: Ideas for Episode IX [2]
Category: Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017)
Genre: Gen, Rey Skywalker, Spoilers, huge spoilers holy shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-16 04:18:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13046337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstriferousSprite/pseuds/AstriferousSprite
Summary: Two years after everything, Rey runs into him again.





	Oh, My Ancient Mars

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Ktavnukkah, with the prompt _night._  
>  Also in case the tags didn't tip you off, **holy shit spoilers for The Last Jedi,** so be super careful whether you've seen it or not.

Two years pass before Rey sees him again.

It’s relative nighttime, and she’s wide awake, staring at the ceiling of the _Falcon_ as she and Finn drift through hyperspace. She’s not sure if she’s praying, but the same mantra repeats in her mind: _I want to see them one last time, I want to see them one last time, please, I want to see them._

“ _Rey._ ”

Blinking, she sits up. That voice is so new and yet so familiar at the same time, does she dare to…

Taking a quick look around, Rey makes sure that Finn is fast asleep before silently making her way down the hold. The whisper gets stronger, urging her towards the cockpit, and she slides in, wincing at the hiss of the doors.

And there sitting in the pilot’s seat, is Luke goddamn Skywalker, glowing blue and looking undisturbed. “Good evening—”

Rey swings at him. Of course, being a ghost, her fist merely harmlessly passes through him, rippling through his face.

“That wasn’t very nice.”

“Go away,” she says, staring furiously at this man who only ever seems to show up whenever he wants.

Luke shrugs. “I thought you would be happier to see me.”

“ _Two years—_ ” she shouts, then looks back in a panic. Finn hasn’t stirred yet. “ _Two years,_ ” she repeats in a deadly hiss. “You couldn’t be bothered to show up before then—”

“Rey—”

“—had to get by entirely _without_ you, do you understand how much the General is suffering, how much the Resistance—”

“Rey—”

“Don’t _Rey_ me,” she spits, eyes aflame. “Why couldn’t you have bothered to show your pathetic face _any time_ before now?”

Luke is silent.

“I’m here to apologize,” he whispers after a moment has passed, after Rey’s fists have relaxed somewhat. “Rey, I’m so sorry for these past years.”

She grits her teeth.

“I’ve kept so many things from you,” he continues, “and it was wrong, Rey.”

A knot tightens in her gut. “What do you mean?”

“Your parents,” he says—plainly, yet still with enough force to strike her heart into a panic. “I should have told you about them.”

Rey’s eyes widen.

Luke closes his eyes. “The Force is strong in my family,” he says. Rey finds herself leaning in. “And Rey, when I saw you on that island, I knew there could only be one explanation for such strength.”

The truth sinks in her gut like a heavy stone. All this time, she had been wondering about her lineage, about their identities—and now, here he was, dead and confessing, the man who only ever knew how to run and conceal.

“I was too scared to reveal it at the time, but I knew—”

“Why did you leave me?” she asks, eyes wide with grief.

He looks down.

“I waited for so long, for _years,_ ” she whispers. Damn it, she is _not_ going to cry. “Why didn’t you come back?”

“I was foolish.”

Rey bites her lips, trying to stop the quivering of her jaw.

Luke sighs. “Your cousin was growing stronger by the day,” he says, translucent arms folded in his lap. “I could see the Dark Side wearing away at him—and you were so young, I was so scared that you would fall to the same fate. So, I entrusted you to a couple in the middle of nowhere, and they gave me their word you would be safe with Lor San Tekka.” He shakes his head. “I trusted too easily, it seemed.”

“And you _forgot_.” Rey doesn’t know why she’s being so accusative; here’s her father, breaking his silence after fifteen years, and yet she’s still hurting, still lonely, still burning for answers. “You forgot about me.”

Luke bows his head. “I didn’t know when the right time was.”

“You didn’t _know._ ” She stops trying to halt the flow of tears building up in her eyes. “I’ve waited for almost _fifteen years_ for you to return—”

The floodgates open.

She can’t help but cry, curled up in a small ball at the end of the cockpit, muffling each anguished sob with her hands. There’s nothing physical that comforts her—and yet, she can somehow feel a warm presence standing beside her.

“I’m sorry,” whispers Luke, resting a faint hand on her shoulder. “Rey, I failed you.”

She shakes her head. Because for once, this isn’t about failure—it’s about her ghost of a father, doing his best to be there for her after years of waiting, of heartache, of mistakes.

After years of asking, the answer’s finally been revealed.

**Author's Note:**

> :')


End file.
